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10 Dec 2016 2:44:24pm

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England's oppressive social structure has always created a pool of malcontents. It is these malcontents that in centuries past gave us the British Empire. Instead of breaking a shop window, one enlisted or became a seaman and went abroad to seek one's fortune. Historically, this pool didn't just consist of the lower social classes: there was a smattering of representatives of all levels of British society, just like there was in the riots. And of course if one didn't leave the country voluntarily, there was always His Majesty's pleasure in the Colonies.

The problem England faces today is that it no longer has this cultural "steam valve" available to it. Somehow it has to find a way to become a stable social environment that achieves equilibrium on the basis of its own resources and capabilities. I don't suggest socialism as an answer: that's been tried and found wanting. On the other hand a society which displays grasping greed in its upper levels can scarcely complain when its children follow suit.

I reckon what the British need is a touch of good old Aussie egalitarianism.